Echoes of the Past
by LunaTheDragonSlayer
Summary: It's that horrible day...the horrible day where no matter how hard Shadow tries, he can't escape from the memories of his past. He blames himself for what happened all those years ago. Will our heartbroken hedgehog ever recover from the lose of his dearest friend Maria? One-shot. Rated T cause I can.


Shadow placed his head in his hands, another aching migraine creeping its way into his head. He scowled, clenching his free hand. He hated this internal pain. It made him feel weak. And outer wound would be understandable; something he had maybe earned in battle. _IF _his opponents were ever strong enough to even catch him. Most weren't. Just that stupid blue hedgehog and his idiotically heroic friends. Sometimes their consistent pursuits for "peace" were absolutely nauseating.

He gritted his teeth as the pain worsened. There really were getting worse. He thought it probably had to do with it being...

No. He wasn't going to think about it. He wasn't.

He swallowed and walked down the paved street that was abandoned of all cars this late in the evening. A few were parked along the sides of the roads, but it was otherwise empty. Normally he would have welcomed the solitude. Usually he's got people staring at him in awe or fear.

Tonight however, he just wanted to have something to do to get his mind off of...things.

"Hey Shadow!"

Shadow turned around to see a white bat float to the ground from the top of a building. He nodded to her. "Rouge."

She smirked, a flirty smile that probably would have sent most men panting like a dog. But he certainly wasn't like most men and just found Rouge's flirtatious actions childish. "What are you doing out so late?"

"Walking," he answered plainly. What did it _look_ like he was doing?

"Well if you aren't doing anything I could really use your help getting past this building's security systems. It's kind of a two person job. Whaddya say, Shadow?" she asked him, batting her eyes.

He rolled his red ones. Honestly, she should know by now that that never works. Usually whenever she approaches him with these jobs he just denies. Even if she says it was for G.U.N, usually its illegal. Not that that bothered him; he just hated the police. They were already after him enough as is. You'd think that she would pick up the message that he doesn't want to partake in her thievery, but she's persistent.

Today however, he decided that this was just the thing he needed. Do a job, focus on it and it only, and then move on with life.

"Fine. But if we get caught I'm NOT breaking you out of prison," he growled, and she humphed, but smiled, slightly shocked that he agreed.

"All right, this is how it works," she said after they were both on top of the building. They were looking down into a museum of some sort through the skylight. "The alarms are silent and activate only if a window is opened or broken, so nobodies going to notice at first. We have two minutes to reach to separate control panels on opposite sides of the museum and activate the alarm shut down. After that, all we have to do is avoid the occasional security guard and avoid picking any separately secure items." She smiled. "Piece of cake, right?"

He nodded. He could see why she would need his help. If it was him alone, he could easily disable both of the security panels by using chaos control, but Rouge obviously wasn't him.

"All right, since I can fly above the security guards, I'll reach the far left one. You take that corridor over there, and shut down the panel from cover."

And then she opened the window. She floated down a ways, and then hovered over the guards' heads and headed toward her panel. Shadow teleported inside the building, right up to his panel, and flipped it open.

"Its a wonder nothing's been stolen before now," Shadow muttered under his breath as he deactivated the security alarm. He waited for Rouge, and sure enough, she floated over to him a few seconds later.

She smiled widely. "All right, so far so good."

"Just what have you got your greedy sights on this time?" he asked her as they snuck around the oblivious guards.

"Some sort of super rare gemstone," she said, her eyes sparkling. "There's only supposed to be three in the entire world, and the other two are on opposite sides of the world." She turned to him. "I never would have been able to do this without you."

"Oh you would have found a way," he muttered. Rouge suddenly stopped and started staring at him.

"Are you feeling all right Shadow? You look...I don't know, stressed."

He swallowed, looking away angrily. "It's nothing. Just a headache. Let's keep moving."

Rouge's eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, it's the anniversary isn't it? Of the day she-"

"I said let's keep moving!" he snapped rather loudly, and they both scurried behind a corner as a guard turned toward the noise. He shrugged a few seconds later and walked off.

Once the guard was gone, Shadow stormed off, refusing to meet her eyes. He wasn't going there. Not with her, not with anybody. Not even himself. His head started pounding again, this time as though it would pound out of his skull. He grunted, and fell to one knee, clutching his head as it throbbed.

"Shadow! What's wrong?!" Rouge whispered intently next to him.

"I-it's nothing. I'm fine," he gasped out. His skin felt like it was on fire, and he squeezed his eyes shut as an aching pain spread through him. He hated how weak he looked, especially in front of someone like Rouge.

She laid a hand gently on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off, the pain subsiding back into just a dull ache. He shakily stood, and almost collapsed again. Rouge helped steady him, and once again he hated himself for how weak he was.

"Can...can you make it a little farther? Do we need to leave?" she asked, her eyes wide. Shadow almost groaned. If Rouge was offering to leave behind an opportunity like this, then he was in really bad shape. He prided himself on never backing down; never showing any weakness around anyone, and now here he was, barely able to stand because of some infernal headache.

"No. Let's keep going before...gah!" he cried out and the pain returned, this time with a loud ringing echoing in his ears. A sharp pain shot through him, and he fell to the ground. He heard Rouge calling his name over and over...

And then the world flashed to white.

* * *

"Shadow! I-I'm scared!"

"Hurry Maria, we don't have much time!"

"I'm trying! I-I can't go any faster!"

Shadow pulled her along behind him. They had to get out of here! Panic crept around him; fear sinking into him, an emotion that he had only felt one other time when Maria had twisted her ankle and fell. But this...this was a different kind of fear. This was the kind of fear that made you weak, made you run faster than you ever could before.

"They're over here! I see them!"

Shadow heard the guards, and sped up, practically dragging a crying Maria behind him.

_No...stop...he didn't want to see this again..._

Shadow led Maria down a hallway and turned right into a chamber.

And also a dead end.

_Stop it...stop it, please..._

"Shadow, we're trapped!" Maria cried out.

"No! Look, the escape capsules! We can get out!" Shadow cried, and hurried over to inspect one.

Maria ran over to a control panel. "Shadow, stand over there for a second."

Shadow obeyed immediately.

_Why...why did I listen to her? Why didn't I stop her?_

Suddenly Maria pushed a button and the capsule sprang up around Shadow.

"No! What are you doing?! Maria!" he cried out, and pounded on the glass as hard as he could. She looked at him sadly, tears streaming down her blue eyes.

"Shadow, you have to save them. Protect the world. Promise me!" she said, pressing her hand up against the glass.

"Maria! Maria no! I won't lose you!" he pounded again and again. He had to stop this!

_Why wasn't I strong enough? Why?_

Guards piled into the room. They pointed their guns at Maria, and she looked and him, fear in her eyes. He had never seen so much fear in someone's eyes.

And then a gunshot, and Maria slammed her fist onto the button, and Shadow shot out of view.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

_MARIA!_

* * *

Shadow opened his crimson eyes, and stared around him. A very worried looking Rouge was standing over him, and by the looks of it they were back on the roof. She must have carried him to safety. He lifted his hand, and angrily brushed his face. He was crying?! What the heck was he, five?

He swallowed slowly, trying to get rid of the horrible empty guilt within himself. The thing that he had been trying to avoid all day had finally caught up to him. The memories of Maria's death. Watching her die over and over again, year after year...

Every year, perfectly clear on the anniversary of her death.

"Are you...are you Ok now?" she asked hesitantly.

"No." Shadow stood and looked out over the city. "Every year, it's the same thing. Every year I watch her die in front of me, and every _single_ time I am helpless to save her!" He slammed his fist into the wall next to him, leaving a dent. His breathing grew ragged in his anger. "Every year I have to watch it all over again..."

He covered his face in his hands. "And I'm too weak to do ANYTHING. I should have been able to save her..."

Rouge watched him wordlessly. She shifted her position a little bit. "I...I have to get something. I'll be back in a minute." Rouge flew away, leaving a grieving Shadow to himself. She knew he needed time to mourn. And he didn't want anyone around to see it.

Shadow clenched his jaw, squeezing his eyes shut as he slammed his fist into the wall again and again, not even trying to do anything really.

Why was he so weak? Why couldn't he save her?

_Shadow..._

Shadow froze and opened his eyes. His body stiffened, and he felt petrified as that whisper ran through him.

Maria.

_Shadow please...don't you know it hurts me to see you like this?_

Shadow made a chocked off noise. "M...Maria..."

_Shadow please...I don't blame you for what happened. Don't you see? That day...I may have died...but I don't regret it. I don't regret it for a single second. I died...but YOU lived. You lived to save the world Shadow. And I would gladly make that decision again if I had too._

"How...how can you say that? After everything...how can you say that you would die again? If I would have been stronger, I could have saved you!" he cried out to the sky.

Her voice carried back to him, as soft as a whisper, but easily understandable.

_But you would have died. And the world with you. Don't you see? I wish that things didn't turn out this way. I wish that I could have been able to walk beside you and see the world._

Suddenly Shadow felt a presence, like two arms wrapping themselves gently around him in a hug.

_But things didn't happen that way. But I am here Shadow. I here with you, every step you take. I've been with you through the pain and the happiness. So please...don't be sad anymore._

Shadow looked up to see her face, outlined in light. She smiled at him sweetly, and he remembered her how she should be remembered. A happy, carefree kid who would give anything for anyone. Her blue eyes shone with pride in Shadow. She started to fade away, and Shadow reached out to her. Just for a moment, his hand brushed his fingers, and then she was gone.

_Good bye doesn't mean forever Shadow...so please..._

_Smile._

* * *

**Hurray! My first Sonic fanfiction! This is just a one-shot, I just wanted to write a quick little story about Shadow and Maria. I always thought this whole scenario was so sad in the games, so I decided to write about how Shadow would cope with Maria's loss.**

**Anywho, I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you thought! I put a lot of work into this one and I want to know everyone's reaction, even if it wasn't necessarily a good one.**


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